Oh beautiful was the werewolf in his evil forest

*The title of this blog alludes to my favorite Richard Brautigan poem.

I am challenging the President of the Humboldt Chess Team tomorrow, by the ocean, hopefully (at least in my imagination) in pure black ninja suits. Needless to say I am scared. I played him once before in speed Chess...he beat me in a little under a minute. Never in my life had I hated a man so much. Ches is an ego thing. Though my great friend Ben insists that the game "GO" is more beautiful, philosophical and non aggressive then the chess playing mentality. He is probably right.

This particular man interests me more than his chess skills. I was in love with one of his friends. He, the chess pros's friend (though his name in unimportant, lets just call him "He') just won ten thousands in a chess competition in Vegas. His father became a fanatical Buddhist and abandoned the family to move to Nepal. His mother was a yoga instructor who made small time heroin deals. When he was 17, attending all AP classes, he nearly beat a bully to death for picking on a nerd. That landed him a year in prison. The bully got out of the coma in four months. But this man I once loved, remained in year, which would have been much longer then a year, had they not done comprehensive testing. Turned out the his IQ was 140 (and yes, I know they are geared toward white men, but he would tell you that too.)

My one time love sold heroin. When I was on the stuff, he would come into my apartment and stare for hours at the, "Grand Master Chess" program. Hours, I kid you not. He said it took six months to get to his status. A book was written and published about this character.

I love then too deeply. I find old poems, stained in tar, that were dedicated to him. IQ of 140. What a waste. The worst thing about him was that he had a solid moral core- even dealing heroin. Such integrity. He said what he meant and did what he said. No bullshit, no violence. He would not even sell to someone who was not hooked.

My point is that this man, the one I loved, a brown belt in Judo, was the only man in Humboldt county to beat this fellow I play tomorrow. I would rather lose then have either of their brains.